Chandler's leg bump

[Jevin]

So Chandler still has his leg bump and I took him to the vet to rule out infection. I am now suspecting gout due to over supplementation and have cut down on how often I give him calcium with D3 to once a month as I believe he is able to produce enough D3 thanks to his T5 high output Arcadia 12% bulb. I have noticed that the bump seems to shrink when I've forgotten his calcium with D3 on his feed and I will be getting a blood test done in the near future to determine the cause of the bump. However, the bump is soft so I believe if it is due to over supplementation of D3, it should be reabsorbed.

 

[Jevin]

Update. After doing some research it might have been my gut load being high in calcium. I was using oranges for a water source and part of my gutload for my feeders and I know they contain a decent amount of calcium, as in one medium orange contains 5% of the daily value of calcium a human adult needs. Considering how much the feeders were eating, the feeders were probably providing 0.1-0.5 Mg of calcium per feed, before supplementation, which seems pretty high considering when you dust crickets, you are probably putting less than that on the feeders.

 

[Jevin]

After doing more reading it definitely seems to be pseudogout caused by excess calcium. From what reading I've done I should be able to help get rid of it by increasing vitamin a in my gutload. Which I have inherently already done by switching out the orange in my gut load for carrots. Would also why the bump has been shrinking. Will try to avoid using oranges as much in future. Already comparing photos from when the bump first showed up, it has decreased in size and is noticeably not as tall as it was. I believe the trauma to the joint from his fall is what allowed it to form in the first place and now with cutting back on his calcium with D3 and increasing his vitamin A intake, it is starting to improve.

 

[Jevin]

For a comparison.

When first noticed.

Now